The House of Robert Timms, Orchard Shopping Centre

This was my first visit to The House of Robert Timms over at Orchard Shopping Centre and the food was still decent.

The mussels in white wine sauce was not that great due to the strong stench of the mussels. Not sure if they were not cleaned properly or it was the season catch. Not my favorite.

The pasta with asparagus and mushrooms was wholesome and toothsome. I liked it, especially for days when I want to have no meat.

I was craving for something more creamy and ordered the carbonara. It was really yummy with the cream sauce and mushroom and bacon. It was also heavy, so not an everyday affair.

The girls ended the meal with the sticky date pudding with ice cream. I did not try it as I was not really a fan of sticky date pudding. It looked good though.

Basilico, Regent Hotel - Restaurant Week 2011

One of my favorite Italian restaurants in Singapore is Basilico over at The Regent Singapore. It has been around for many years and is known for decent, fresh and good Italian food, helmed by Italian chefs. I was delighted to know it was one of the restaurants in Restaurant Week October 2011 and swiftly booked a slot for dinner.

I like this concept of a antipasti and dessert buffet with a choice of main course. There were around 9 items on the list and I had a hard time selecting what I would like to have.

I love the antipasti spread at Basilico. There were many types of cured meat from Italy, including parma ham, and the variety of honey to go with the numerous wheels of cheese. My favorite was the duck rillette with toast and the grilled vegetables and asparagus. The cheese went very well with the truffle honey too.

I chose the risotto with foie gras and truffle porcino for my main as I was avoiding seafood then. It was toothsome and the foie gras was gorgeous with the soft tender flesh wobbling. It brought out the flavor of the risotto very well.

TT had the Angus beef in red wine sauce and this was also very good. The meat was done nicely.

JK had the lamb chop which was superbly done. It was not too gamey tasting.

No dessert pictures but I love the gelato and the mini cakes and tarts. Wonderful service and dinner at Basilico.

L'Espresso, Goodwood Park Hotel

After the disappointing dinner at Gaia Ristorante and Bar, we went over to L'Espresso for some coffee and tea and desserts.

I like how the latte was served with a sugar stick to stir in the desired amount of sweetness and the presentation of the drink was quite pretty.

I had the hibiscus and rosehip tea which came in a beautiful pot and teacup and saucer. It also came with a sugar stick.

The durian crepe which was humongous. We sure didn't expect it to be two big pieces of crepe filled chock full of durian pulp and topped with ice cream and fruits. Then again, it had to justify the price tag too. This was most wonderful, especially if you like durian.

I must go back to L'Espresso again for the perennial popular afternoon tea some day.

Gaia Ristorante and Bar - Restaurant Week Dinner October 2011

I kept missing out on the previous Restaurant Weeks as I was either too late to book it or I was just too busy to make it. So I was pretty excited when I managed to fix 3 dates during the Restaurant Week in October 2011.

Gaia Ristorante and Bar at Goodwood Park Hotel caught my attention as it is connected to OSO Ristorante which is highly raved.

The ambience was invitingly romantic, with dim lighting and cozy booth corners lining one side of the room. Unfortunately, being Restaurant Week, I guessed they were trying to maximize the dining space so there were also tables set virtually back to back, making it quite awkward to have a lovely meal when you could hear the other diners' conversations.

The assortment of bread served was something different from the usual and I liked that.

The set dinner menu priced at $55++

SARDE IN SAOR

I couldn't say I particularly care for the deep fried sardine marinated in onion. Then again I was never a big fan of sardines so it was quite a biased opinion.

MERENDA DEL MAZZAROL

The taste of the panfried ham and ricotta cheese reminded me of spam.

PASTA COE E MOECHE

Finally, something which I didn't mind having. Soft shell crab with tagliatelle. The pasta was al dente, lightly coated with sauce and was quite tasty with the slight crunch of the soft shell crab.

BACCALA ALLA VICENTINA

I chose the cod as my main and I was underwhelmed by the blandness of the fish. Maybe it was the style of cooking from the northeastern side of Italy where the head chef (Moreno Martini) is from. The corn cake, or polenta as mentioned by the server, was totally dull and lacked much flavor.

TIRAMISU

The saving grace of the entire meal was the dessert. Not that it was supremely fantastic but after the few courses of utterly forgettable dishes, this was a highlight. It was slightly wet with the taste of coffee and liquor and made a decent ending to the meal.

To be fair to Gaia Ristorante and Bar, the food was fresh and nicely presented. It could just be that the method of cooking was not to my liking. Or it could be those dishes served for Restaurant Week were not their specialties. In any case, I did not particularly care for the food and doubt I would return in the near future. It was most disappointing as I had such high hope for it.